Parts of the Katy Trail have gone dark because of the return of copper thieves.

Dallas park officials confirm that copper thieves recently stripped wire from lights along the southern end of the trail.

Nine lights along the trail near Reverchon Park are currently out, Assistant Parks Director Dave Strueber said.

He said the city plans to quickly address the outage, although the extent of the damage is not yet known.

"It's a security issue, and we do not want to let it go," Strueber said.

Copper thieves have hit the trail before, including during construction. But such thefts had ebbed since the market for copper weakened with the broader economy.

The trail also is fitted with tamper-resistant electrical base plates. But the thieves apparently were able to overcome that by heavily damaging the plates that cover the wiring.

Rudolph Bush